Page 77 of Modern Romance Collection December 2024 Books 1-4

Again, he didn’t move closer, only lifted a hand and took her chin in his large, warm fingers, tilting her head back to look at him. His gaze burned so brightly she couldn’t look away.

‘Three months,’ he murmured, his attention dropping to her mouth and then back up again. ‘That’s how long it’s been since I’ve had a woman. And that’s all your fault.’

Something inside her dropped away.

He hadn’t slept with anyone in three months? Was he serious? There really had been no one since her?

‘M-my fault?’ she said unsteadily.

‘Yes, yours.’ His thumb stroked over her bottom lip, making her tremble. ‘Every woman I have tried to spend time with hasn’t interested me, and I thought it was because I’ve been working too hard. I thought it was because I was tired.’ He paused, a flame in his eyes. ‘Then you suddenly appear in my goddamn building, and now all I can think about is how to get you naked as quickly as humanly possible.’

The warmth of his touch was radiating through her entire body, chasing away the cold and the irritation, and somehow the jet lag too. She felt like a sunflower starved of light, turning towards the sun.

You didn’t come here for sex, remember? You came here to talk.

That was true, but she’d felt nothing but uncertain for weeks and weeks. She’d been physically sick and anxious, and afraid of what would happen with the baby, what her life would look like after it was born. And now he was here and he wanted her with the same fierceness as he’d wanted her three months earlier. He’d made her feel so good, so beautiful and sexy, and desirable, and she wanted more of that; she couldn’t deny it.

So why couldn’t she have it? Have one more good experience before reality hit. A few more moments of pleasure, before her child arrived and took over her world.

He was still a stranger to her as much as he had been that night, but she didn’t care. She hadn’t realised how badly she’d been craving his touch until now.

‘I...’ She couldn’t stop looking at his mouth, remembering how it had felt on her skin. Remembering its softness and the dark taste of him. ‘I...don’t think this is a good idea.’

‘I disagree.’ His head dipped, his mouth inches from hers. ‘Did you know I was on my way to see someone else tonight when you turned up?’

‘No.’ The word escaped her on a sigh, the only thing of any importance his mouth so close to hers. ‘I didn’t know.’

‘Woman, this is the second time you’ve ruined my evening plans.’

Nell wanted him to kiss her more than she’d wanted anything in her entire life. ‘Perhaps it’s fate,’ she breathed.

‘I don’t care what it is.’ His voice had deepened into that low growl that stroked over her skin like a hand. ‘But if you don’t want to have sex in this elevator, I suggest you tell me now.’

It was the raw note in the words that got her. The desperation that turned her inside out. She hadn’t been able to resist his hunger for her all those months ago and she couldn’t resist it now. She lifted her hands, took his face between them and pulled his mouth down on hers.

The kiss was blinding, a fire that once ignited couldn’t be put out and it blazed high.

He made a rough sound in the back of his throat and abruptly his hands were on her hips, lifting her effortlessly onto the rail at her back. Then he glanced down, touching the little bump of her stomach almost in greeting, before pushing up her dress and spreading her knees wide so he could stand between them.

She gasped as he caressed the outside of her thighs then shuddered as his fingers slid inward, seeking more sensitive parts of her. A harsh sound of male satisfaction broke from him as he pulled aside her underwear and stroked over the slick heat of her sex, discovering how wet she was already for him.

She liked that sound. It thrilled her, as did the pleasure flooding through her, saturating every cell, making her arch back against the wall, glorying in his touch.

He bent his head then and kissed her again, devouring her utterly as his fingers teased and caressed her slick flesh, making her shift and move against his hand, desperate for more.

‘Tell me where you want me,’ he demanded, low and rough against her mouth. ‘Tell me exactly.’

Nell was trembling, remembering how he’d demanded similar things from her that night they’d spent together and how she’d given them to him. Every single thing.

She wanted to do the same now.

‘I want you inside me,’ she said huskily, unable to hide the desperation in her voice.

He lifted his head, silver eyes burning. ‘Now? Here?’

‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘Now. Here. Please...’

He didn’t wait.

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